UNH Today

For two decades, the federal government has turned to UNH as its trusted research partner in managing and preventing oil spills and other disasters.

UNH’s Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC), established as a partnership with NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) in 2004, marks its 20th anniversary this year. Co-led since its inception by Nancy Kinner, professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering, the CRRC conducts and oversees research, conducts outreach and encourages strategic partnerships in oil spill and disaster response, assessment and restoration.

“Human-made and natural disasters profoundly impact ocean and coastal communities, disrupting the lives and livelihoods of those who depend on these areas,” says OR&R director Scott Lundgren in this video congratulating the CRRC for its 20 years of service. “The CRRC helps us respond swiftly and effectively to these hazards.”

The Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 thrust Kinner and the center into the spotlight; as the oil flowed from the ruptured wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico Kinner explained the process to countless news outlets and the CRRC convened experts to bring the best science to bear on the months-long disaster.

Lundgren’s remarks, as well as a feature on the NOAA website, highlight CRRC’s contribution to coastal disaster response and preparedness, including:

• The center’s research on spills in challenging environments such as the Arctic or the Great Lakes;
• The Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA ®), an online mapping tool developed by UNH that has provided thousands of environmental resource managers with the data necessary to make informed decisions for environmental response;
• The CRRC received $19 million in funding from NOAA and supported 192 students, fostering the next generation of ocean stewards.